The present invention relates to automatic stud welding equipment, wherein a fluid is employed in the welding process, and more particularly to a transfer member for feeding both weld studs and fluid to a welding gun.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,582,602 and 3,546,420 assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a stud welding systems is depicted wherein small studs or buttons are fed to a welding device of the gun type. Such devices have become well known in the stud welding art, and generally employ a feed tube of the type shown in these aforementioned patents as a vehicle for feeding studs, from a remote source of supply, to the welding gun. Generally, the feed tube takes the form of a flexible plastic member having an internal conduit in the configuration of the profile of the fastener to be transferred therethrough, which conduit extends throughout the length of the tubular member. Such a feed tube is shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,582,602.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a tubular member as shown in the prior art discussed above with a secondary sleeve of plastic material in spaced relation with the tubular member in order to protect the tubular member from damage, and to prevent a kink, or sharp bend, occurring in the tubular member which would inhibit flow of the stud through the transfer member.
It has been found however, that there are welding units, which in addition to providing for the automatic feeding of studs to the welding device or welding gun, also require the employment of a fluid such as gas or liquid, in the area of the stud welding operation. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,870 which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. These devices heretofor have required a fluid conduit in addition to the transfer member for studs, each of which is connected to the welding gun at its outlet end, and each of which is connected to a remote source of supply at the inlet. The provision of these two tubular members connected at difference points onto the welding gun may prove to be cumbersome and can lessen the maneuverability of the welding gun at the point of operation.
It is therefor an object of the present invention to provide a transfer member for welding apparatus, wherein fluid is deposited about the weld area during the welding process, and wherein studs are automatically transported from a remote source, through a transfer member, which is simple in construction and adaptable to welding guns of the type presently in use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a transfer member for use with a stud welding device wherein a fluid is employed in the welding process, wherein both studs and fluid are transferred through a unitary transfer means.